The High Court Justice has ordered a former Homa Bay County Government worker and a former county payroll official to jointly repay KSh708,664 which was paid to them as irregular additional salary for more than three years. The case was heard on September 18, 2026, by Justice Benjamin Mwikya Musyoki, for the High Court’s Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division in Nairobi.

The judgement was made against Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno, a former Medical Social Worker at Ndiru Hospital Centre in Rangwe Sub-County, for receiving additional payments from the county government in the form of irregular salary. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) filed the case against the respondent, citing a long list of payments made to current and former employees of the Homa Bay County Government.

According to the ruling, the payments were made to the respondent in the form of additional allowances totaling KSh708,664 above her regular salary in the fiscal years 2015 to 2018. During the hearing, the EACC submitted evidence in the form of the respondent’s bank statements reflecting the payments. Additionally, the EACC presented an email sent by the respondent to the EACC offering to repay the money in monthly instalments of KSh10,000, but the repayment was not made as agreed. The court also took note of correspondence between the respondent and the EACC, which indicated that the monies were irregular and recoverable.

“What is of importance is the fact that she was not entitled to or did not earn the money – that it was paid to her irregularly. It does not matter whether it was paid to her as salaries or other emoluments, but since it was paid irregularly it is recoverable,” the Chief Justice said.

The court therefore awarded Ogweno and former County Payroll Officer Maurice Ochieng Wambo a total of KSh708,664 jointly and severally for the debt. The interest will accrue at the court rate from the time the suit was filed by EACC to the date of payment. The Commission had filed a suit against the former county payroll official alongside three other former county payroll officials concerning the payments. However, the court dismissed the case of EACC against the two other defendants, Solomon Owuor Ochogo and Joseph Omondi Otieno, after determining that it did not provide substantial evidence linking the two to facilitating the payments.

The judgment further highlights that the Homa Bay County Government utilizes both a manual system and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD). It further determined that the evidence provided linked the irregular payments to the manual system. At the same time, the defendant Maurice Wambo was also considered responsible for the misconduct alongside Ogweno. In addition, Justice Musyoki refused EACC’s request for an additional KSh3 million for general and exemplary damages. The judge further determined that the award of the public money that was deemed irregular would be enough compensation for the irregular payments.

According to EACC, the money awarded is part of the several cases that the Commission has against various respondents concerning the infamous KSh42.25 million Homa Bay County Government payroll scandal that involved many officials. EACC further announced that it has opened criminal cases against several officials involved in the massive misappropriation of public funds through the irregular payments from the county payroll. On the other hand, the latest judgment only deals with the civil liability of the KSh708,664 irregular payments to Ogweno and Wambo. Nevertheless, the court did not determine that Ochogo and Otieno were involved in the payments.